One of These Nights
by coldqueen
Summary: OneShot featuring two of our favorite characters having a late night encounter that will change everything. RonanLiz funness!


This is for Eileen Blazer, my IMPal, my favorite fanficcer, and my general all-around support and inspiration. It's an insane pairing, I know, but I can't help what my heart tells me...they BELONG TOGETHER! Moving on...Wrong Kind of Guy...if you haven't read it...read it...its awesome...

* * *

Elizabeth Weir was a woman of many pursuits, and not a one of them was romance. She spent her life dedicated to making the world a better place, and even though she was nowhere near her homeworld, she still sought to make her surroundings better. Day to day, she supervised and implemented practices on Atlantis that made things run smoother...yet she felt unneeded. She was content in her job, but she was _content_. Content was not happiness, nor was it unhappiness. Day in and day out, she watched as Atlantis's exploration teams went through the Stargate and came back with stories and memories that she felt left out of. She was in charge, yet all she ever wanted to do was let go and have fun. 

Which she would never do, as it was something that just wasn't possible. However, on quiet days like these, she did allow herself small comforts. For instance, she was indulging herself this evening by taking her dinner with friends, or since the few really close friends of her's were out of reach (bya GALAXY!) she was taking her dinner with John, Rodney, Carson, and Teyla.

As usual, Carson and Rodney were arguing over something, though it wasn't usually the easy-going Carson that argued with Rodney, Rodney was always arguing. It seemed to Elizabeth that he delighted in having a point to prove, even if the point was moot...for instance...

"How can you say that French fries are better than mashed potatoes? French fries are unhealthier; they're hard on the digestive tract..."

Carson grinned and interrupted the ranting Rodney with his strong Scottish brogue. "But damn if they're aren't bloody good!"

"It doesn't matter how good they are! Mashed potatoes have seven essential vitamins and nutrients that French fries cull out during the cooking process. As a doctor, you should..."

"I should what? Forgo the pleasure of ketchup smothered fries just to appease you? No...Besides, the lycopene in ketchup makes up for the lack of nutrients in fries."

Rodney would have none of it, and much to the amusement of Teyla, John, and Elizabeth was turning bright red. They were all sitting comfortably around a circle table in the converted cargo bay/cafeteria where tonight's special, if you hadn't guessed, was hamburgers with French fries, or roast beef with mashed potatoes, with various smaller dishes to substitute. It wasn't really the food that interested them, or even the people in the tables around them. It was seeing how red Rodney would get as he struggled to convert someone to his side of an argument that neither would be winning simply because Carson refused to fight.

As Rodney launched into another explanation of how the French fry was cooked, and Elizabeth idly gnawed on one, and John and Teyla exchanged lingering glances over the table, Ronon sauntered up and slid in beside Elizabeth. He was smooth enough that he was only noticed when Elizabeth turned and gasped in surprise.

"When did you sit down?"

"A minute ago," Ronon explained with an amused small smile. "What's the argument on?"

Elizabeth leaned closer so as not to disturb the increasingly hilarious argument (Carson wasn't even responding anymore, he just went on eating his fries as Rodney now used a spoonful of mash potatoes and several toothpicks to start a hand-made diagram arguing mashed vs. fries). "Apparently, Rodney thinks that fries should be removed from the menu."

Ronon glared at Rodney, though he didn't notice. "They're good."

Elizabeth smiled and munched on another fry. "I know that, and you know that, and Carson knows that, but Rodney doesn't know that."

"He should eat one, then he'd know."

Elizabeth glanced ruefully at Ronon, fully aware that sometimes he said obtuse things on purpose, and that he really wasn't as out-of-it as he liked to play it. Across the table, John managed to drag his gaze from Teyla long enough to nod his head in greeting to Ronon. Next to him, Carson did the same.

"Elizabeth! Surely, you must see the logic?"

Elizabeth looked up and went deer-eyed as Rodney sought to bring her into the conversation. "What?"

"The logic of removing French fries from the menu! You wouldn't want overweight people running all over the station being responsible for all our safety!"

Elizabeth smiled, and looked up and down at Ronon, who was the exact opposite of unfit, and at John, who wasn't so bad himself. "I don't think we'll have that problem."

The table burst out laughing, and Rodney, tired at being surrounded by people with no logic, stormed off. Carson smiled at his friend's retreating back. "And he didn't even finish his potatoes."

Ronon pulled them over and grinned as he scooped some up. "His loss."

At some subtle signal, John and Teyla stood from the table and made their goodbyes. The trio left behind watched as they walked away, doing that obvious "I-like-you-so-while-I-walk-next-to-you-I'll-softly-bump-into-you-just-to-feel-your-body-next-to-mine" walk. Elizabeth smiled, and continued to finish her fries, whereas Carson was just sitting there.

"That was rather fun, now wasn't it?"

"Pissing off Dr. McKay?" Ronon asked, as Elizabeth tittered to herself. "I think I missed most of the fun."

"You missed how it started, which was pretty ridiculous," Elizabeth replied, a slight touch of censure mixing in with the amusement.

Ronon looked at her and back at Carson, then back again. "How'd it start?"

"Carson threw a fry at Rodney and told him to shut up about his work."

Ronon raised an eyebrow, smiled, but didn't say anything. Carson grinned and shrugged. "I guess I'll be off too, all that running around today exhausted me. Lizzy, Ronon," Carson explained as he said his goodbyes. Then he too left.

Elizabeth had basically finished her meal, but felt uneasy about leaving the newcomer to their midst alone while he ate. She turned to study him, since she rarely got the chance to speak to him alone. "How does it go with you, Ronon?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how do you like it here, on Atlantis?"

"It beats having to run all the time."

Elizabeth laughed, then saw the look on his face and stopped. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Most of you don't know how good you got it."

"Some of us know, but don't care," Elizabeth explained, staring into the distance. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've things to do."

Ronon had seen the look, however, and recognized it. He'd seen that look in reflective surfaces countlessly over the years. It was easy to ignore loneliness, when you have no choice. Elizabeth had a choice, but didn't take it. Ronon was tired of people on this installation having the choices but ignoring them. They didn't know what it was like to live for one purpose and one purpose only. He did.

Ronon wasn't hungry anymore, so he pushed his food away, and left the near deserted cafeteria. Often, when he was feeling the walls press in on him, he would walk Atlantis. It reminded him of times when he was younger and would walk the perimeter of his village with his father. Despite how he'd spent the last seven years, he still enjoyed walking, as long as it was just that, walking.

Ronon usually could spend a couple hours walking, but tonight something egged him on, made it so that just walking wouldn't satisfy the restlessness years of running had ingrained into him. On a split-second decision, Ronon changed direction for the gym, thinking that maybe some hard-core exercise and sparring would help him sleep better tonight. As he crossed in front of the Stargate, he glanced up and noticed that Dr. Weir's lights were on in her office. They were like a bright star in the middle of all the dim levels of lighting the "graveyard shift", as Sheppard referred to it. Ronon considered going up there, seeking company, but from the little view he had of the office, she was concentrating on her work. Ronon shook his head, and continued to the gym, where he would brutalize the equipment for a couple hours.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, was once again wading her way through team evaluations. With the great number of people now habitating and working in Atlantis, it would take a couple days, but she still wanted to start on them. Sheppard's were fairly easy to get through, since he wasn't the type of man who enjoyed writing reports, or even having to analyze his people, but Elizabeth trusted his judgment so those didn't really require a lot of attention. If John had a problem, he'd tell her. On the same path, Carson's were easy to get through, since he was a thorough and practical minded man who didn't mince his words. Elizabeth easily cleared their reports in two hours, yet even the easy work made her tired, seeing as she'd now been up for twenty hours. Tomorrow was her "day off" though, so she wanted to get some of this work done. Finally, she came to the largest stack of them all...Rodney's. The man loved to expostulate and loved to go on for pages and pages about every person that worked for him and would mark down every incident...and in that regard, he reminded her of Kavanaugh, which wasn't a good thing.

Slowly, though she fought it, the tedious reports did what no book had done for the past three nights...she fell asleep.

* * *

All of Atlantis was silent; the few people on duty at three a.m. had long ago wandered off to do other things, leaving only a new ensign in charge, and to be honest, he was sound asleep at his desk. He never noticed the small blip on his radar...never noticed that only one light-year out, that blip suddenly disappeared...as if it had a cloaking device... 

Ronon hadn't intended to come up here, and hadn't intended to check on her, though that's what he found himself doing. Dr. Weir had never held much interest for him at first; he'd been withdrawn and extremely introverted at the time. Over the past couple of months, he'd found it enjoyable to watch her, as she worked, as she relaxed, as she was. Ronon had realized, while he beat the hell out of the Judo Dummy, the reason behind this sudden fascination. He was attracted.

Elizabeth wasn't like most women he'd known or met. She was strong, capable, serious, and sexy in a way he'd never been attracted to before. Ronon could admit that in the long run, women like Teyla were his type; the small, compact women with plenty of softness mixed in with that iron will. Elizabeth was all long and lanky, with a controlling bent...though something told him she wouldn't mind letting him control her. That thought, more than any other, the thought of having such a stubborn woman bending to his will, doing what he wanted, being _his_, kept him up at night.

Ronon had only been going to stop in, remind her of the time, seeing as she hadn't been looking too good lately, especially in the cafeteria earlier, when he came to her office. He sighed and grinned at the sight of Elizabeth surrounded by files, and sound asleep. She was drooling just a bit on what appeared to be Dr. McKay's self-evaluation...which also appeared to be twenty pages long. No wonder she fell asleep.

Ronon wavered for a few minutes, but knew he couldn't leave her to sleep like that. She'd get a crick in her neck. Or...that's how Ronon rationalized his picking her up and carrying her out of the office. Since it was so late, and the only person still in the head office was asleep, no one saw him walking through the halls with her in his arms...or the close way he held her...or the surprising gentleness he showed as he maneuvered through the doorway to her quarters.

Inside those quarters was a surprise. Contrary to the meticulous order of her office, her living area was a mess. There were books in small uneven piles on her tables, and colorful pillows and throws all over the small couch. Her bed was unmade, and one of her dresser drawers was overflowing with...lingerie? As Ronon set Elizabeth down on the tussled sheets of the bed, he took in the no-nonsense uniform...and imagined that red lacy bra and thong set that was on the floor on her body...yeah...don't go there, he told himself.

Ronon turned to leave, fully intending on leaving her in the same peace he'd found her, when she called out to him; not from sleep, or even half-sleep. "Why did you carry me here?"

"I didn't think it was too comfortable for you sleeping like that on your desk." He didn't turn, but heard her moving around, her clothes rasping against the cotton sheets, and then the whisper of a zipper as she removed the outer shell of her top. Ronon could imagine what she wore underneath, a maroon undershirt, but it was what was underneath that that captured his attention most.

"Probably not...you could have woke me."

"Would you rather I'd done that?" Ronon asked, finally turning to look at her. In the dark, she looked mysterious and dangerous, all rough sex edged with light. She was kneeling back on elbows, her pale skin bright against the dark colors of her uniform. She'd removed her shoes and her socks, and was relaxed in a way Ronon had never seen her.

"No," Elizabeth said slowly, before smiling. "I rather enjoyed being carried."

Ronon smiled a little and took a few steps closer, though he didn't know why. He should be leaving. Sheppard had told Ronon when he'd asked about her when they first came here, Dr. Weir was off-limits. "I'll try to do it more often."

Elizabeth laughed, and it wasn't like herself. It was slow, and sensual, the kind of laugh you'd hear somewhere dark and sex-scented...on that note, she realized that that was exactly where she was at. "You do that."

Ronon stepped closer, until he was at the edge of the bed. Slowly, very slowly, he crawled onto the bed until he was on his hands and knees above her, not touching in any way. Elizabeth smiled, but in the dark it looked dangerous. She took the opportunity to slowly run her hand down his chest, before leaning up and nipping at his chin. Ronon grinned and nipped her back. Suddenly, he wasn't on top anymore.

Elizabeth had looped her legs around his hips and turned over, pinning him to the bed. The room got hotter, and Ronon slowly rapped his hands around her thighs. She sat there, so close to the part of him that was suddenly raging to be touched. Slowly, she lay down on top of him.

"You're not intending to go anywhere tonight...are you, Ronon?"

Ronon considered the situation and shook his head. "No."

Faster than she could move, he flipped over so that he was on top. He'd fantasized about this enough to know that the first time, he'd be on top; the other times, which there would be many of, could be varied.

Elizabeth grinned breathlessly. "You wanna be on top."

Ronon pulled her arms up above her head, sighing into her hair as he nuzzled her hair. "I'm in control."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

They were happy, both, for the first time in a long time.

* * *

FIN

* * *

I'm actually considering continuing this on adultff, sinceyou know...I'm all a twitter... 


End file.
